| Title Jessica's Law: Predator-Free Zones & Global Positioning System | |
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Author Hunter Ahlberg American River College, Geography 350: Data Acquisition in GIS; Fall 2005 Contact Information: 4949 Broadway, Sacramento CA 95820 916.227.3251 hunter.ahlberg@doj.ca.gov | |
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Abstract Recent political trends are stiffening requirements for sex offenders living in California. Penalties are increasing, the areas where they may live are shrinking, and Global Positioning System (GPS) technology is making it possible to monitor them all the time. The proposed 2000-foot Predator-Free Zone around schools and parks, in the Jessica’s Law initiative, will not be feasible; however, using GPS will be. | |
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Introduction Sex offenders are released everyday from California’s Correctional System. Most have had no therapy to help deal with their unlawful sexual and violent tendencies. A percentage of these individuals fail to register where they are living with law enforcement, which they are required to do for life. This leads to law enforcement loosing track of these sex offenders. These “in violation” sex offenders slip through the cracks and gain the anonymity required to strike again. An effort to increase supervision of sex offenders is gaining momentum in California's political environment. Those who seek to introduce new and more restrictive laws imposed on sex offenders cite recidivism rates and rates for failing to register. Those against new legislation and for the rights of sex offenders point out that most offenders do not commit violent stranger sex crimes and we must consider their civil rights. One proposed law seeks to limit the areas where sex offenders can live to areas outside of a certain radius of schools and parks. This would severely limit the legal area for sex offenders to live in many of California Metropolitan areas, which is were most sex offenders live. In addition, the law seeks to increase sex offender supervision by requiring sex offenders to wear Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Sex offenders in violation for failing to register will increase due to the decreasing amount of residential area available for them to live in. In lieu of registering each year with law enforcement, more individuals will elect to “roll the dice” so they can find a place to live that suits there needs. Instead, GPS devices should be worn by sex offenders to better supervise them and catch those who re-offend. In the following I will analyze some sample data to demonstrate the effects of Jessica’s Law in the City of Sacramento. | |
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Background Since 1947, sex offenders in California have been required to register their home addresses each year with the Department of Justice. In 1996, Megan’s Law was signed and information regarding sex offenders was made public via viewing locations at local police and sheriff departments. In December 2004, sex offender information was more accessible using the Internet via the Megan’s Law Internet website. By the end of 2004 "more the 3 million individual users" viewed the Megan’s Law Internet website. (Lockyer, 2005) This has shown politicians there is an interest in legislations concerning sex offenders. Current law states that while on parole a sex offender convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct against a child may not live with 1,320 feet or .25 mile of a school. When the sex offender is discharged from parole the requirement is not longer valid. This leaves a loop whole in initial release requirements from prison. It also goes against the commonly held belief that sex offenders cannot live next to a school or place where children gather. | |
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Methods Considering there are over “67,000 sex offenders” living among us in California, I decided that a sample dataset of the sex offender population would bare better results for analysis. (Lockyer, 2005) First, I considered analyzing the County of Sacramento. I visited the California Spatial Information Library to obtain data. There I downloaded a file called “geonamea” which included all the schools in California. In addition, I downloaded California’s county and major metropolitan area data. To geocode the addresses of the sex offenders I used Thomas Brothers street data. Soon, after my initial analysis, I realized the amount of data to display just for the County of Sacramento was too much. I limited the sample size to the City of Sacramento. Once, I had determined my sample size, I selected the appropriate data out of geonamea, city, school, park, street, and sex offender datasets. In addition, I obtained park information from Thomas Brothers to include in the analysis of the proposed 2000-foot Predator-Free Zone requirement, and I limited the schools to just elementary schools. Next I created buffers of the appropriate distances around the school and park layers for the current law and proposed law. Finally I symbolized the features and analyzed the data. |
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Map 1 Current law: While on parole, sex offenders convicted of lewd and lascivious conduct against a child are prohibited from living in the yellow overlay areas. City of Sacramento: Sex Offender addresses = 1063 (Red Diamond), School Locations = 81 (Rectangle with Flag), 1,320 ft. or .25 mile Buffer (Yellow Overlay). | |
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Map 2 Proposed law: For life, sex offenders are prohibited from living in these yellow overlay areas. City of Sacramento: Sex Offender addresses = 1063 (Red Diamond), School Locations = 81 (Rectangle with Flag), Park Locations = 221 (Green colored areas), 2,000 ft. or .38 mile Predator-Free Zone (Yellow Overlay). | |
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Results Sex offenders effected by Jessica's Law are: Within School Predator-Free Zone = 463, Within Park Predator-Free Zone = 921, Within both = 958 or 90% of Sex Offenders living in the City of Sacramento. What’s Left? Mostly commercial and undeveloped areas. Basically, Sacramento residential areas are shut off to sex offenders because most of the areas either have a school or park or both. Use of ESRI ArcMap 9.1 "Select by Location" tool was used to identify which sex offenders will be effected by the proposed Jessica's law. This approach was chosen because it allows the analyst to select data within a geographical area based on conditions. |
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GPS Tracking Below is an example of a GPS tracking device courtesy of the Florida Department of Corrections Futch Bill, FDC (2004) Recently, two states, Florida and Okalahoma, have introduced new laws that require sex offenders to wear Global Positioning System (GPS) devices all the time and for the rest of their lives. “An ankle bracelet and a transmitter worn on the waist send a continuous signal to the parole officer’s computer. If the wearer ventures into ‘exclusion zones’ around schools, parks, and playgrounds or out of ‘inclusion zones’ such as his[/her] workplace or home, the device sends an alert to the parole office.” Moore (2005) | |
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Pilot GPS Tracking Program The California Department of Corrections and multiple Southern CA Law Enforcement Agencies. Current program highlights: 1. Active GPS monitoring 2. Data sharing between agencies 3. Ability to correlate data with crime scene locations. 4. Goal: 500 parolees monitored by July 2006. 5. Cost <= $10.00 per day (Jessica's Law would require the sex offender wear the GPS unit for life and pay for it.) Recent arrest: The system is already proving itself with a recent arrest during November. In Orange County, a 43-year-old child molester was arrested for violating parole after being caught spending two minutes in the parking lot of an elementary school and going to a doll store. | |
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Analysis & Conclusions Predator-Free Zones around school and parks sounds like a great idea; however, looking at the actual number of sex offenders it would effect seems overwhelming. The limited space available for them to live is extremely limited, as we have seen in the City of Sacramento sample data. It would be highly unlikely there would be a suitable city for them to live in, which they could work or be productive. High profile sex crimes are spurning more laws to be introduced, like Jessica’s Law. However, rather than forcing nearly every sex offender to move, initial case study reveals GPS would be a more valuable tool for monitoring Sex Offenders and solving crimes. More research needs to be completed on GPS monitoring. This is a hot topic in California politics. And, one that is not going to go away. | |
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References Moore. Martha T. “State look to high-tech tools to track, map sex offenders.” USA Today. Jun 19, 2005 Internet http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-19-sex-offenders_x.htm Lockyer, Bill, 2005. 2004 Report to the Legislature California Sex Offender Information Megan’s Law, 1-5 | |